Cullen Crests
by Black Mary Janes
Summary: Jessica lets her imagination run wild over the Cullen crest, but Bella takes a more practical approach. Every Cullen explains how they came to earn their own piece of the Cullen Crest. In chronological order, with original pairings.
1. Prologue

**Hello everyone!! So ever since I saw the "movie" option, I was wondering what was all that different between the Twilight movie and the Twilight book. The first thing I got was the addition of the Cullen crest. I love the crest, and think it adds so much to the family as a whole. Anyway, that got me thinking, so I decided to write out a little one-shot for each Cullen about how/when they got their crest. They are all really short, and really rough. I really hope you enjoy them, seeing as I'm having so much fun writing them! I begin with a short introduction, to kind of tie it in to the movie. I guess this would take place before prom, in that span of time that Bella is healing.  
**

* * *

Prologue: Gang Signs

"I mean, it's like some sort of gang." I wasn't listening to Jessica before she said that. Suddenly my head snapped around, and I raised any eyebrow.

"What do you mean, gang?" A gang in Forks sounded ridiculous enough, but from Jessica's pretty mouth, it sounded impossible.

"The Cullens." She muttered. The entire lunch table glanced over at them for a moment, then returned when Jasper looked back at us. I tried not to smile, knowing he had felt the sudden thrill of fear from my classmates. I'm sure he was laughing about it right now.

"They're not a gang." I said, shaking my head. "They're a family."

"No, shut up Bella." Jess was not being patient today. "They are creepy. I mean, I understand that family sticks together and whatever Disney crap you want to tell me, but honestly, what's up with the logo?"

"Jess, that's the family crest." Angela said, laughing slightly. "Most old families have one. I bet there's a Stanley crest out there."

"Yeah, but I'm not wearing it around my neck like a billboard, am I?" She asked, glaring at Rosalie, who glared back. "And who says it's the actual Cullen crest? We don't know where it came from. It could be a fake. I'm telling you, it's weird! They all wear it, all the time. What's with that?"

"You're reading too much into it." I rolled my eyes at her, picking at my lunch.

"Seriously, Jess, chill." Mike managed to choke out around a mouthful of…something.

"You guys can say what you want now." She warned, taking a sip from her Diet Pepsi. "But just wait. When they are all on the news for having some underground drug ring, I'll be able to say 'I told you so'."

I laughed with everyone else, but didn't join in on the Jessica bashing that followed. She got me thinking, only unlike her, I knew where to get my answers.

--- --- ---

"Jessica thinks you are all part of a gang." I informed Edward as I slid into the Volvo, even though he already knew.

"So I've heard." He said slyly. "We need to think of a way to thank Angela for setting her straight."

"But she's right." I said suddenly. Edward looked at me sharply, and I could feel his frustration. "I don't know where it came from." I clarified.

"Oh." He sighed with relief, smiling again. "So you want to know the story."

"Yes." I nodded firmly. He shrugged.

"There really isn't one." He caught my outraged expression, and continued. "There isn't. It started, like everything about our family, with Carlisle. It was his family crest, but he knew that with his disappearance, it would die out. So he kept it."

"There's more." I hissed. There had to be more. The Cullens never had a short story.

"I suppose you could ask everyone when they first got it." He shrugged. "But really, it isn't much of a story."

"I will." I warned him. He just chuckled, turning up the road to his home.


	2. Carlisle

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!! I love reviews, and try my best to respond to all of them, and sometimes I let things slip in my reviews, so you kind of know what's coming next! Don't you want to know what coming next? Then review!!**

**Okay, so this chapter is not my favorite. I found it really hard to get Carlisle's voice right, and I still don't think I did. His was the greatest challenge for me, but I guess it came out all right. I hope you all enjoy it!!  
**

* * *

I hated myself.

I was a monster, a creature that should never have walked the earth.

I was terrible, and yet I could not die. I tried. I had thought of nearly a million ways to kill myself, and still stood here, far from the woods of my childhood, wishing I would get struck by lightning. That hadn't happened yet. It was worth a try. A half-hearted try, at best.

Nothing happened. The rain continued to pour, and my clothes grew progressively wetter, but still, I was not cold. I did not shiver. None of my normal reactions were present. I wasn't expecting them, not anymore.

It would be a year soon. The leaves had just been starting to change colors when I was last human. I sat down, leaning against the large trunk of a tree. I found I could think better, with the fresh blood filling my long-empty system.

I had found deer. They were fairly helpless to me, and before I realized what I had done, half the heard was gone, their bodies in a neat pile by a tree. I had made my first kill. The thirst was gone.

I wasn't human. I knew that. But perhaps I could still be humane. The slaughter of animals was needed for humans to survive. It couldn't be wrong if I also lived off them.

I sighed, realizing the taste was the same. The deer blood was the same taste as the venison from my previous life. Part of me didn't want to know what humans tasted like.

No, all of me. I would never find out how humans tasted. My resolve formed then, like an iron core, sitting in the pit of my stomach.

I rested my hands on my knees, preparing to stand. As I did, my eyes found the glint of silver on my left hand. The Cullen crest glinted up at me, my last reminder of what I had been. I remembered the way I had admired the crest when I was younger, the way I had always asked my father and sisters to tell me the stories of when the crest had stood for something great. Each told a different story, but all in the same hushed, reverent tone.

I had been planning on shedding the ring, letting it become part of the earth forever, but again, I was changed. I would keep it with me. A reminder of my past, yes, but also a hope for the future. Perhaps, again, the Cullen crest would stand for something worthy of the hushed, reverent tone.


	3. Edward

**I'm sorry that this took so long to put up!! Edward's voice is the hardest for me to master, obviously. This is a bit longer than Carlisle's, so I guess Edward is just more wordy. Anyway, Edward is up now, and Esme is coming soon, so wish me luck. That's sure to be chalenge as well. **

**Big thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter: Scampifish, running-with-vampires89, Alice Cullen784, and cassandra jules corrigan!! **

* * *

I sighed, sitting down in a straight back chair that would have been torture in my previous life. Now, it didn't matter if I was sitting or standing. I would have been comfortable either way.

My mind had worked through the wealth of information, had finally accepted it as fact. The word vampire was still odd to my mind, as were the thoughts that weren't always mine. I had grown used to Carlisle's voice, though, and was working on tuning him out when possible. He deserved some privacy, though it was a sad excuse at that.

It was much like learning a language, this new talent. Every day, I tried out new things, extending and retracting my hearing, tuning in and out. It was becoming easier. I could throw my hearing clear across the street of the small apartment we occupied. Sometimes picking up the neighbors, or the people passing on the streets. Some thoughts were interesting, but I was soon discovering that others were rather disgusting. One day a paddy wagon drove by. I had spent the rest of the day trying to bleach those thoughts from my mind.

Carlisle was never this long. He had stepped out, picking up a newspaper and a new kitchen table. The old one was currently burning in the fireplace. I had been testing my strength without Carlisle's watchful eye nearby. The result had been twigs.

I had spent a few hours angry at Carlisle, my new companion. He had taken my life from me, technically. He hadn't given me much of a choice on my future, something any seventeen year old would resent. He had also made sure I was in no state to fight in the war. It was obvious to me that he did not support the war, and he told me several times that I was too young, both physically and in my new vampire life, to be anywhere near a battlefield. I believed him when I was thirsty, but I wasn't I thought he was a wicked man. I often felt guilty after these thoughts. As odd a life as this was, he had saved me from a final death.

I was also beginning to understand the joy I was bringing him. He hadn't had an intelligent conversation with one of his own kind in more than a century. He was more alone in the world than I would have been, as an orphan at seventeen.

The door opened. Carlisle's thoughts had been quiet in my mind, my own taking center stage. I could hear him now, as clear as though he were speaking.

_I wouldn't have been surprised to find the chair in the fireplace as well. He's far more controlled than I would have imagined. Perhaps it's just his personality. _

I heard him struggling with the table, and went to free it from the door frame. He set it down in the empty spot, a newspaper and small parcel in his other hand.

"Thank you." He said.

"You're welcome." He set the newspaper down, and I scanned the headlines. Nothing jumped at me. Just the same wartime headline.

_Should I give it to him now? _I didn't look up at him, concentrating on blocking his thoughts. I saw myself mirrored in his mind, seeming to concentrate on the headlines. _Yes._

"Edward?" I looked up, acting as though I hadn't known it was coming. He smiled. Already I was finding it impossible to lie to him. "It's for you." He slid the parcel over to me, then went into the back room. I stared at the brown paper for a moment, then unwrapped it.

Out fell a leather band, pitch black and smooth. The silver crest in the center shined brightly, the detailed of the design sharp to my new eyes. A chevron, with shamrocks, and the lion. The lion seemed to jump out, stretching his body out fiercely, the roar palpable to my ears. It was the Cullen crest, the only thing Carlisle hadn't shed from his human life, along with his name. And here it was. For me, he had said.

I nodded, as though the silver had spoken to me. I bent the leather easily, loosening it enough to wrap it around my wrist. I held it there, tying a knot quickly. It was still stiff, but it wouldn't be for long. I shook my hand out, and the wristband slid around a bit. I fixed it, returning the crest to center.

_Now he's my brother…my son. _

I nodded, responding to the thought from the other room. Carlisle was right. We were family now.


End file.
